estou mudando

How about a video to start:

So yeah, I’m changing… a little bit.

There are so many things about my life right now that I don’t like or enjoy. The main thing is the lack of regularity. Right now, the only scheduled thing in my life is work. Work, work, work.

That’s sad because God knows I don’t live to just work. I can’t forget to actually live.

It’s easy for me to spend a lot of time at work, because I don’t have anything else scheduled in my life. I get to work early and leave later than I’d like. Then I come home, loaf around, eat, shower and sleep. My weekends are almost equally as boring.

Moral of the story, kids: I don’t want to miss out on life because I spend all of my time working.

So, the changes:

1. I absolutely need to have a not-so-strict/slightly flexible schedule of events that include, but are not limited to – going to the gym, tap dance, hanging with friends, and hobby stuff (reading, singing, TV etc).

2. I have to make new friends (not that my current friends are less than awesome, because they’re not) in this ginormous city. Let me tell you – it ain’t easy. Suggestions are welcome.

3. This is very much contingent on the weather, but I need to get out and do more stuff. Staying inside all day makes me crazy. I’m already crazy.

***Side note: I don’t know how many times I’ve mentioned these mini-life changes in past entries, but with the new move to Queens 2 coming up in a few days, I feel like now is a really good time to start over (again). I’ll try to be successful this time.

Q&A

Q: Where the hell have I been?

A: Ugh – Life has been one thing RIGHT after the next, leaving me with very little time to blog. Especially now – I’m at work (super early, might I add) and there are a zillion things I need to get done.

Q: If you’re doing so much, what are you slacking on (aside from blogging)?

A: 1. My google reader. Oh gosh – I don’t even want to KNOW how many articles I have to read. I’ll probably have to “Mark all as read” for most entries (minus the blogs, of course).

2. Sleeping.

Q: Anything exciting going on?

A: I’m moving in 4 days. Of course, that means I’m spending a lot of time gathering my stuff and figuruing out how I will get it from point A to point B. And I bought a Wii last weekend :) Sadly, I don’t have much time to play it.

Wrap up: So anyway, I have so much I want to say. I promise I’ll make time for a little something tonight.

a much needed “vacation”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/15/world/asia/15australia.html?_r=1

Seriously?

I WANT THIS JOB.

There are at least 200,000 other people who want this job too… but I will win.

i’m moving… again.

As of last Saturday, I have a new place to live. And I can promise that my new roommates are not crazy.

Thank God. No, seriously – Thank the LORD.

The big day is January 31st. Hopefully, the entire moving process won’t take too long… it’s not like I have a ton of stuff. But I’m trying to sell this silly sofa bed I “inherited” from my Uncle when he helped me move here. No one wants it :(

Now, why on Earth will no one buy this sofa bed from me? Who doesn’t love a sofa with lions on it?! Come on, guys – $50 is a STEAL for this high quality product.

ANYWAY – if no one buys it, I’ll probably give it away. If I had the means, I’d totally drop it off at the Salvation Army, but I don’t have a car. Shame.

So yeah, I’m moving on January 31st and I’m stoked. Queens to Queens… I’m not going very far (8 miles, maybe). At least my new apartment is 15-20 minutes closer to my job.

Other improvements with the new place:

1. The floors are level and carpeted (not cracked, uneven and linoleum-covered)

2. The bathroom is twice as big (big improvement)

3. There’s a TV in the living room… and it has cable and DVR (that’s bad news for me)

4. We REALLY have wireless internet

5. I can have “junk food” in the “common area”

6. My roommates have had roommates before

7. The landlord and her family are super awesome – and they have a black lab :)

That’s good enough for me. Start the countdown.

AND SOMEONE PLEASE BUY MY SOFA BED.

i kinda hate myself right now.

I left work at 10pm this evening (it’s been a reeeeeally long day/week), and on my way to the A, I saw a couple of familiar faces. As usual, I was speed walking through Penn Station, but I stared at those faces (which also sorta seemed to be staring back at me) long enough to realize they were my two young uncles, Gilbert and Douglas. Then I saw an older man with them and realized it was my GRANDFATHER… on my real mother’s side.

Pause – some background on my family history: I am an only child. When I was young (but not too young) my parents got divorced and my dad gained custody of me. Obviously, my mother wasn’t the best mother in the world (I think it takes a lot for a father to get custody of his kids) and unfortunately my relationship with her quickly began to fade. By the time my dad and I moved to Virginia, a couple of years after the divorce, I rarely spoke to my mother.

Fast-forward 10 years: I’m in college. At this point, my relationship with my mother is nonexistent, and has been for years. Furthermore, my relationship with my mom’s mom and my mom’s dad (who are also divorced), has taken a nosedive. Every once in a while I’d give each of them a call, and every conversation began with “Why don’t you call me more often?!” As if I wasn’t under enough stress of being at UVA and dealing with other personal issues, I was being scolded for not calling enough. It was too much for me to handle… so I called even less. Now, don’t get me wrong. I have absolutely nothing against my Grandma and Grandpa – I’m just not good with phone calls. To this day, I’m not good with phone calls.

Anyway…

Fast-foward to now. January 10, 2009. It’s been years (somewhere between 2 and 4) since I’ve spoken to either my Grandma C or my Grandfather. They are the ONLY members of my family on my real mother’s side, aside from my mother. I can’t say I don’t feel bad about not calling them… I feel horrible.

But the worst part is: I’m scared to contact them. I know it’s incredibly lame, but it’s true. I’m afraid they won’t want to talk because it’s been so long. I’m afraid they don’t care about me anymore.

And that’s why I hesitated when I saw my uncles and Grandfather at Penn Station earlier. I was scared.

About 10 seconds after I walked by them, I turned around to run after them. I had no idea what I wanted to say, but I just wanted to see them. Unfortunately, they had already disappeared into the masses of Penn Station.

Fuck. That was my chance, and I blew it.

Because I was scared.

where i’ve been

Between December 29th and now I haven’t been resting.

So much for a relaxing holiday break…

After I finally got back from my super long bus trip from DC, I dove head first into preparing for Peter’s visit. Lots of cleaning, laundry, food shopping, and the like. I don’t think I got to bed that night until 3am.

Then Peter got here and it was a grand time. I’m constantly nagging reminding him that he STILL hasn’t come to visit me since I left UVA. The main reason for his visit, besides seeing me (and Adam, I guess), was to watch the ball drop on New Year’s Eve.

Yep, Peter and I spent our new year’s eve standing in the middle of Times Square for 9 hours. It was hellish and extremely cold. Extremely super duper crazy cold. We came “prepared” though: each of us had 4 power bars and a sandwich, along with several hand and foot warmers. Sadly, by 9pm, we were too cold to move. I was too cold to eat, too cold to feel the foot warmers I’d recently changed and too cold to call anyone. Peter was struggling too. Before midnight, we saw/heard the Jonas Brothers, Lionel Richie, Ludacris, Anderson Cooper and Kathy Griffin. Unfortunately, we were too far away to get good pictures. Oh well.

Times Square: 6pm

20 seconds until 2009

Happy New Year... finally.

I definitely won’t be standing in Times Square on New Year’s Eve again until it’s unseasonably warm outside. At least 40 degrees outside. But I’m glad I actually went out and did it. Peter and I are kinda awesome.

After 2009 rolled in, most of our activities took place indoors (thankfully): Shopping in SOHO, dinner at Otto (which I highly recommend), a visit to the Natural History Museum (would’ve been better without the 100,000 people who were also there), and a night of wine and Catch Phrase and Celebrity Taboo at my place.

Like I said, it was a grand time.

Peter left on Saturday, and it was time to get back into the daily grind of work.

Now – I relax.

i’m a little late

Happy 2009, ya’ll :) As promised, I stole this from Maxie because this is easier than coming up with my own “Best of 2008″ list:

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

Attend an academic summer seminar completely separate from school. Yes, I know. I am a nerd.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

I don’t do new year’s resolutions – I just randomly make goals for myself. I’m sure I’ll have some this year, but they won’t purposely coincide with the new year.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

Nope.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

Nope. Thank God.

5. What countries did you visit?

None. I’m poor.

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?

A macbook. An ipod touch. A vacation. Maybe a boyfriend.

7. What date from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory and why?

May 21, 2008: The day I graduated from that hell-hole of a university.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Graduating. That was a HUGE deal because I hated almost every second I spent in that school.

9. What was your biggest failure?

Taking FOREVER to find a job. I was bummed for at least 6 months because I couldn’t find a job.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?In January, I had a series of cysts on my left wrist. It looked pretty nasty and it took two doctor’s visits before they stopped coming back. Yuck.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

My TV? Maybe.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

Both of my parents – for a couple of reasons. They’ve dealt with a lot in 2008 (and continuing into 2009) and the way they handle situations is so admirable.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

My almost ex-roommate. There are a few others I could add to that list, but I won’t.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Student loans. And Metro-North passes. Lame.

15. What did you really, really, really get excited about?

Getting a job. Graduating from grad school. My friends getting jobs after graduating. My dad coming home from Iraq.

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

Gosh – I don’t know… Several songs will remind me of 2008. Anything from Feed the Animals (Girl Talk) will remind me of the summer of 2008.

17. Compared to this time last year are you:

smarter? Yes.

bitchier? Probably.

taller? No.

financially stable? Yes. No more Murky; I have a full-time gig now.

happier? Probably. I don’t live in College Park anymore.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Singing. Sleeping. Hanging with friends.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Freaking out. Writing memos/papers for school.

20. How did you spend Christmas?

In Roanoke with my 2nd family. It was fantastic.

21. How will you be spending new years?

My friend Peter and I stood in Times Square from 3pm until the ball dropped. It was cold beyond comprehension. Peter ate 4 power bars (I had 2). There was absolutely no drinking. We sang a lot and saw the Jonas Brothers.

22. Did you fall in love in 2008?

Nope. I didn’t have the time.

23. How many one-night stands?

None. Again – no time. And that’s just not my style.

24. What was your favorite TV program?

Of all time? Arrested Development. In the whole world? Top Gear.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Probably. I’m such a hater.

26. What was the best book you read?

Girls Who Like Boys Who Like Boys was a fun read. The first 300 pages of Guns, Germs and Steel was very informative (and interesting). Chuck Klosterman IV was super funny.

27. What was your biggest musical discovery?

Hands down: Girl Talk’s Feed the Animals. I am in love with that album.

28. What did you want and you got?

An effing diploma from that stupid school. A place to live in NYC (even if I ended up hating it). A job. A cool new TV.

29. What did you want and not get?

A macbook. An ipod touch. A new cell phone. A date with Michael Buble or John Krasinski.

30. What was your favorite film of this year?

Milk probably.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old did you turn?

I went to class. It was lame. I turned 24. That’s also kinda lame.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Maybe a boyfriend. NOT having to pay back my student loans. Spending my summer in Spain. Finding an apartment in NYC in an area I liked.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

The same as always. Nothing has really changed. I’m still trying to stand out from the crowd with bright colors.

34. What kept you sane?

A few of my friends. My ipod.

35. Which celebrity did you fancy the most?

Zachary Levi, maybe.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?

Barack being elected the next President. Wow.

37. Who did you miss?

My dad. Then he came home.

38. Who was the best new person you met?

Not sure. I’ve met a lot of new people.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008:

Freaking/stressing out gets you nowhere.

40. Quote or Song Lyric that sums up your year:

“… Avoid insanity, manage to conquer every obstacle, make impossible possible, even when winning’s illogical losing’s still far from optional…” – T.I. from No Matter What (who knew rappers could be so insightful?)